How a Digital Portfolio can Help Ontario Teachers

Aug 22, 2018

4 Min Read

Learn more about how teachers and students are showing evidence of learning

Portfolios have been used for years to showcase evidence of learning. In the past, a portfolio was a tangible object taken to school, meetings, and interviews. Today, with the advent of the digital age, schools are looking to digital portfolios as a way for K-12 students to archive and present their work. Ontario school boards have been mandated by the Ministry of Education that all students above Grade 6 have a digital portfolio of student learning, making finding a robust digital portfolio solution necessary.

The need for consistency in technology

Unfortunately, digital portfolio applications are inconsistent with different teachers utilizing different applications. This lack of consistency leads to a new portfolio every year in some cases. Students then lose their work from the previous year as student artifacts don’t carry over from application to application.

Digital portfolio built for Ontario

When D2L developed the Brightspace Portfolio tool for the Ontario provincial Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), we created it with teachers in mind. In fact, we received feedback from 50+ Ontario teachers during the development process. The ease of use saves time, giving teachers back precious time in their days. An integral part of the VLE, Portfolio by D2L offers students the ability to easily transition from creating work to showcasing their efforts, without having to leave the VLE. From pictures and videos, to linking documents, and much more, Portfolio streamlines a student’s ability to demonstrate their learning.

“We LOVE Portfolio and the independence and confidence it provides our kids! Their voices are heard!” – Ontario Educator

Did you know that all K-12 public school teachers in Ontario have free access to Brightspace as part of a provincial Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)? To get Brightspace for your classroom, reach out to your Technology Enabled Learning and Teaching (TELT) contact or email K12ONT@D2L.com.

Listen to our recent webinar on Portfolio

Looking for a simple and intuitive tool to document your students’ learning this year? Listen to our recent 30-minute webinar to learn about how the VLE’s (Virtual Learning Environment) Portfolio tool can make your pedagogical documentation a breeze! Provided by the Ministry of Education, this tool is available free to educators and students at all publicly funded schools in Ontario. Students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 can document their own learning or teachers can add items on their behalf. If your board uses Brightspace for Parents, teachers can share portfolio items with parents in just one click! In this webinar, we will look at all the amazing features of this tool, get a sneak peek at some of the exciting updates coming, and have a live Q&A session. Start this school year off with the Portfolio tool that was designed for you, that fully integrates with the comprehensive suite of tools offered by the VLE!

See how Brightspace Portfolio works

Brightspace Portfolio is purposefully developed to make life (and portfolio maintenance) easy. Hear from Ontario educators who use Brightspace as part of the provincial VLE!

Ready to try Brightspace? Did you know that all K-12 public school teachers in Ontario have free access to Brightspace as part of a provincial Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)? To get Brightspace for your classroom, reach out to your Technology Enabled Learning and Teaching (TELT) contact or email K12ONT@D2L.com.